Letters to Nowhere #1 (Completed!)

Letters to Nowhere: Part 26

Later, after I had showered and put on my PJs, I came downstairs, ready to scrounge for food in the kitchen since I hadn't had dinner yet. Bentley was at the stove, cooking. He set a plate at the table for me—pasta with red sauce and what looked like zucchini and broccoli tossed in it. I slid into the chair tentatively, waiting for another lecture. "Thanks, this looks really good."

            "It's better than my eggs," he said, giving me a half smile that looked so much like Jordan's.

            I thought maybe this was his way of telling me that what happens in the gym stays in the gym. However, there was something I had to clarify for him. "Jordan told me not to do it. He looked kind of freaked out, actually, but I did it anyway."

            Coach nodded, picking up his fork. "Jordan's only irresponsible with his own life, not anyone else's."

            "I didn't know he did gymnastics before," I said.

            Coach Bentley surprised me by laughing. "He's a victim of overambitious parents. You've seen this before, I'm sure?"

            I laughed with him. "Uh, yeah. I've seen way too much of it over the years. Don't you know that, statistically, those kids quit by age twelve?"

            "I do now." He pointed to my plate of pasta. "Eat your dinner. You'll need the carbs to get through all the extra conditioning tomorrow."

            I groaned and stuffed my mouth full of noodles.

            "Jordan didn't throw a triple back, did he?" Coach Bentley asked after a few minutes of eating in comfortable silence.

            "Just a double."

            "How was it?"

            "Sloppy," I said without hesitation. "Really high, but very sloppy."

            Coach Bentley laughed again, then his face turned more serious. "Is everything okay with you and Blair? I was under the impression that you two were practically inseparable inside and outside of the gym. It's not a problem if you want to hang out after practice or—"

            "I might. Just not right now. I'm still getting used to a new place...getting my routine and all that."

            I could tell he didn't totally believe me, but he didn't ask more questions. And if he had, I wasn't sure I'd have been able to answer them. Avoiding sleepovers and between practice hang-out sessions wasn't something I could explain in words.

            There wasn't much logic to my avoidance of certain places or things, but still...how was I supposed to make it go away? How did Jordan and Coach Bentley get through this? Is that why they left England? Or maybe it had something to do with Jordan's mom being British, but Bentley being American. Maybe he wasn't allowed to stay?

Mom AND Dad,

Where are you?

Love, Karen

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